I entered the Fair Marquise in a hurry and only a bit late. As I was only teaching self-defence at the Castle these nights, my mornings tended to stretch, sometimes all the way into late afternoons.

And I might have been watching a silly series on my phone all afternoon, avoiding to think of what I would say to Mimosa, because I had no clue. And why had I set the meeting to the Marquise?

Maybe because the only other places for casual hanging with friends that I knew of were the university's café (overpriced) and my old workplace, a bar called The Facade. And there was nothing wrong with Hellebore's place. Except that I was developing a serious crush on the waitress, Catnip.

A fact I tried to ignore, as I took my seat opposite Mimosa.

Then again, just seeing Mimosa swept all other thoughts out of my head. She wore her brown hair long and collected in a messy stylish bun. She also wore her summer dress with ease I could never manage in dresses. She looked delicate and feminine in it while I usually looked just stuffed in skirts. Thus I was only wearing a very ordinary pair of jeans that wasn't an ideal choice for the hot afternoon.

"I am sorry I am late," I apologized.

She shook her head and smiled nervously. "Not at all. It's fine. I was just admiring the decore. Does that painting really depict the owner of the place?"

I glanced at the oil painting of Hellebore from the 15th century. Hellebore looked in it exactly as he did every day.

"He is not around?" I asked, turning back to Mimosa.

She shook her head.

Then, before an awkward silence could settle between us, she asked: "So, how are you?"

How was I?

Well... I was teaching martial arts to a bunch of vampire controlled people and learning myself how to fight against one. I had right then in my bag my own blood in an enchanted vial I would take later to the queen of vampires. I wished I could date the waitress of the place. I hung out with a girl named Lavender who had the memories of a legendary magician called Alfonso Moura. My witch friend had her memory wiped out and didn't remember magic and my other friend had fled the city to go on a retreat on the mountains. My ankle was magically healed and I lived in a very nice apartment because a part of my free will was hijacked by an immortal beauty called Mo. I sometimes had tea with her.

"I am fine. It's good. I taught some classes as a substitute teacher. French classes. I actually think I can continue at the same school come autumn. So, really good. You?"

Yes. And the job was due to my special connection to the Queen.

"I, erm... Came to work here... I actually wanted to ask you if you knew my landlady, Rosemary Scale Tongue?"

I knew my face fell.

That simply was not possible. It couldn't be that Plume's sister was her landlord. Just no.

But of course it would happen just this way. The gods of Atlantis were a wicked lot.

"Yes. She oversees my master's thesis. I know her."

And her brother.

"Small world." She smiled. "I live in a spare room she has."

I nodded and drank a long draught from my cup of iced tea.

Mimosa licked her lips. She shifted her weight on the chair. And took a long inhale.

"Valentina. I really appreciate that you came to meet with me," she started. "I don't really know where to start, really. Or I do, but it is complicated."

I bet it was.

"I don't really know you that well. It has been a few years since we... were close. But I... You understand me if I say God spoke to me. But I don't know if it was... If it really was God. Actually, I am kind of a bit lost. I am doing something I shouldn't... I am not making any sense, am I?"

I shook my head.

"Let me try again. It is really important, but I know it sounds a bit crazy. I have been dreaming of you."

I lifted an eyebrow. This was not the conversation I had been prepared for.

"It has been a dream where you guard a secret. I... I am here to understand something. And I hope you would maybe point me in the right direction, if you know something."

She handed me her phone.

I took the offered device, not really knowing what to expect. I found I was looking at a normal conversation chain of messages. She let me scroll the texts.

The sender was named Little One. And as I kept going through them, it became obvious the conversation was between her and Timothy.

I handed the phone back.

She looked at me uncertainly, displaying the emotion openly.

"I have no memories of these messages."

I nodded.

And sighed.

"Last autumn," I started. "I was sitting where you sit now, in this very tearoom. When Hellebore asked me to do something. Something he couldn't... What I am trying to say is, I know what is happening to you. I have gone through it too."

"You have?" She asked. Her face was suspicious.

"I have. But it isn't a simple thing. Oh. God. I wish Hellebore was here." I massages my temples, trying to think of a way to be consoling and not sound absolutely crazy myself.

"But Valentina," She asked, almost whispered. "Where is God? I feel so lost. He hasn't answered my prayers, when I had sought His wisdom in prayers. Why?"

"Because this has nothing to do with the Christian God," I said. "Mimosa, if there is Heaven and Hell as described in the Bible, I have made a pact with the devil. And if you continue down this path, seeking the answer, you might find something you didn't want to know."

To my great surprise, she had tears in the corners of her eyes. Instead of saying I talked crazy talk, she said:

"I know. But I can't... Valentina... I don't understand. Something is missing. I am missing something. Something has changed. I feel it deep inside my bones. I am obsessed with this. I need the answer. Who is this Little One? If you know, can't you just tell me? Or is his name somehow cursed? Why would I have had something to do with a cursed being? Why can't I remember?"

"Very few can," I told her. "And it's not a name you are after. It's a time. You know it, don't you? It's the dark corner in your mind where you can't reach. You swipe it with a flashlight and always miss it."

Her face distorted.

"What are you saying, Valentina?"

"I am saying I have drunk my tea. And you are looking for the easy answer when your heart is missing the truth. I can do nothing for you, and you know it. Deep within. I can't give you the magic key before you believe in magic. You have all the pieces, but looking at the picture is difficult. It's a frightening image. But, if you do, know that I have looked. Please, don't call me before you remember him. All of him."

I rose to leave, but she rose with me.

"But you have a name. He has a name, doesn't he? This Little One, he has another name?"

"What does it matter?" I asked, signaling Catnip I wanted to pay.

"It matters to me. Please, Valentina, if it doesn't matter one way or another, why can't you say at least that much?"

Catnip ignored my petition. She smiled at a gentleman at the neighboring table and then disappeared into the kitchen.

I faced Mimosa again.

"His name is Timothy. Please, don't call me again before you know more. Before you remember it all. Only then can I help you. Only when you have yourself decided what you want."

She shook her head, confused. There were tears in her eyes.

"How can I ever reach that conclusion?"

I found a wry smile remembering something Hellebore had told me.

"The owner of this café told me once that I was the bravest person he knew. You need to be a hell deal braver than that, Mimosa. I don't know how you can. It took all I had to reach here. And some mornings I really doubt it was worth it. Deal with a devil, remember?"

I shook my head. Only then seeing it all. His brother had been a vampire. She must have seen it. Like I needed to see that my decisions were not completely my own anymore.

How could anyone deal with it? Vampires were made by people. That much had become clear to me. Vampires were made by those around them. I personally didn't want to know how that had happened. What had led to Timothy the vampire. But she must know the answers. And those answers were what she needed, to remember him.

"Deal with the Devil? And the devil's name is Timothy then?" she asked.

Just then Catnip came to take my credit card.

"Sure, for you the Devil has that name."

I left Mimosa in her misery in Hellebore's odd tearoom.

Well, after all, it seemed I had known what to say to her. Had it been any good, I didn't know. But it was done and I didn't need to think about it any more.

It felt suddenly easy to have my next tea with the Queen.